Automatic four door lock for automobiles



June 1940- s. LESSER 2,205,212

AUTOMATIC FOUR DOOR LOCK FOR AUTQMOBILES Filed Feb. 25, 1939 mx, "9.-mam 4 114 11111111 Patented June 18, 1940 PATENT OFFICE AUTOMATIC FOURDOOR LOCK FOB AUTOMOBILES Solomon Lesser, New York, N. Y.

Application February 25, 1939, Serial No. 258,370

4 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in an automaticfour door lock for.

automobiles.

The invention has for an object the associall tion of mechanism with thefour locks of the four doors of an automobile arranged in a manner sothat the four locks may be locked simultaneously. The advantage of thisarrangement resides in the convenience with which the doors may belocked merely by operating one look.

Still further the invention contemplates a construction characterized bythe use of flexible cables for transmitting the locking motion betweenthe locks so that they may work in unison.

w Another object of this invention resides in providing a toggleconstruction disposed between the front and rear doors at each of thesides of the automabile and arranged and connected with mechanism in .amanner for controlling the bolts gg of the locks.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a manualmeans independent of the key controlled means for locking the locks andoperative from within the vehicle body for moving one of the togglespreviously mentioned for opening its associated lock in case ofemergency.

Another object of the invention resides in providing locking mechanismfor the windows of the vehicle also controlled by the door lockingmechanism.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawing, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawing forming a material part of this disclosure-Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an automobile with an automaticfour door lock constructed according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective schematic view of the doors of the automobileand the associated looking mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portion of thefront and rear doors and the door jambs of these doors at the near sideof Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of the doors at the far side of Fig.1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on the line 5-5 ofFig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on the line 6-6 ofFig. 3.

u The automatic'four door lock for automobiles,

according to this invention, is used in combination with an automobilebody It] having right side front and rear doors II and II respectively,and left side front and rear doors l3 and I4 respectively. These doorsare provided with lock- 5 ing bolts I5, i6, i7 and I8, respectively.Each of these doors is of the hinge type and at their remote edges areprovided with hinges 20 by which the doors are hingedly supported toswing open and close. Each of these doors work in a door jamb of theautomobile. The doors at the right side of the automobile body areseparated by a jamb partition 2i and the doors at the left side areseparated by a jamb partition 22. w

A key operated cylinder lock 23 is mounted upon the'jamb partition 2!.This lock is of the type having a rearward extending rod 23 for workingthe bolt mechanism of the door locks. The rod 23* is of elongated shapein cross section and 2c is adapted to engage in the elongated opening23" of a rotatively supported gear 2 3. This gear is in mesh with a gear25 rotatively supported and meshing with a rack 26. The rack Ed isconnected with a vertically slidably mounted bar El. 25 This bar issupported by several bolts 28 mounted upon the material of the jambpartition 2! and working in vertical slots 29 formed in the bar.

A toggle mechanism is disposed within the jamb partition 25 for lockingand opening the bolts id as and i6 respectively. This toggle mechanismincludes arms 3!] and 3 i. These arms at their inner ends are pivotallymounted on a spindle 32 which extends through the bar 2i. At this pointthe bar is formed with a slot 33 the base portion of 35 which is formedwith an enlarged recessed opening 36.

A collar 35 is mounted on the spindle 32 and normally is disposed withinthe recess 36. An expansion spring 36 is arranged axially on the idspindle 32 and acts between a head 3i formed on the inner end of thespindle and one side of the bar 2'! for normally urging the collar 33into engagement within the enlarged recess 34. The inner end of thespindle 32 is provided with a 45 head 38 by which it may be manuallymoved. The arrangement is such that the head 38 may be pulled tocompress the spring 36 and to move the collar 35 out from the recess 34.Then the toggle arms 36 and 3i are relatively free from the bar 21 50and the spindle 32 may move along the slot 33.

Levers 39 and 40 are pivotally supported at their upper ends by pintles4!. Intermediate of their ends these levers are pivotally connected bypintles 42 with the toggle arms 30 and 3|. The

lower ends of the levers 39 and 40 are formed with forked portions 39-and 46 respectively, engaging pins 43 mounted on brackets 44 which inturn are respectively mounted on the bolts l5 and i6. Each of thesebolts has a slot 45 through which a supporting fastening element 46passes to assist in horizontally slidably supporting thd bolts. A cable41 is connected with the upper end of the bar 21 and extends throughstationary casing 48 which is'guided within the roof of the vehicle body"I.

When the gear 24 is turned by the cylinder lock the motion will betransmitted to move the rack 26 downwards. This indirectly moves thetoggle arms 30 and 3| downwards at their inner ends so that their outerends spread the levers 39 and 40. This motion extends the bolts I5 andI6 into the keepers for the bolts arranged upon the doors H and i2. Thebolts [5 and I5 may be opened by operating the cylinder lock in theopposite direction to rotate the gear 24 back to its original position.It is pointed out that when the bar 21 is in its lowered position inwhich the bolts I5 and I6 are in their locked positions, it is possibleto operate the emergency handle 38 to relatively disconnect the upperends of the toggle arms 30 and 3| from the bar 21 and then the spindle32 may be moved upwards to manually move the toggle arms 30 and 3| andso indirectly retract the bolts l5 and i5.

The bolts l1 and I8 are operated in a manner very similar to the boltsl5 and I6. Within the jamb partition 22 there is a vertically slidablymounted bar 21 which is supported by several bolts 28' working in slots29 formed in the bar 21'. The top end of the bar 21' is connected withthe flexible cable 41 so that when the bar 21 moves downwards the bar 21will be moved upwards. Toggle arms 30' and 3| are pivotally connected attheir inner ends by a pin 32' mounted on the bar 21'. The outer ends ofthe toggle arms are connected by pintles 42' with intermediate portionsof levers 39' and 40'. These levers are pivotally supported at theirlower ends by pintles M. The upper ends of these levers have forkedportions 39* and 30, respectively. These forked portions engage pintles43' mounted on brackets 44 which are directly supported on the bolts 11and I8 respectively. Each of these bolts operate horizontally. Fasteningelements 46 working in slots 45 formed in the bolts assist in supportingthe bolts horizontally. When the cable 41 moves the bar 21' upwards thebolts l1 and I8 will be extended to their looking position and when thebar 21' is moved downwards the bolts will be moved back to their openpositions.

Each of the doors is provided with a window 50 associated with mechanismfor moving the window upwards and downwards controlled by theconventional turnable handle 5|. The details of this mechanism will notbe given in this specification since such mechanism is generally knownin the art and is of the type shown in the patent issued to Jesse G.Vincent, No. 2,053,854, on September 8, 1936. However, a locking meansis associated with each of the doors operated by the bolt of the doorfor locking the window 50 from being opened. This means includes aratchet wheel 52 mounted on each handle 5|. An arcuate pawl 53 isadjacent each ratchet Wheel 52 and is slidably supported by fasteningelements 54 working in horizontal slots 55 formed in a tail portion 53of the arcuate pawl.

A spring 56 acts to normally hold the arcuate pawl 53 from the ratchetwheel 52. Each tail portion 53 is provided with a rod 55 which slidablyextends into a bracket 51. A spring 58 is mounted upon the rod 55 andnormally tends to separate the bracket 51 from the tail portion 53. Thebracket 51 is disposed immediately adjacent the bolt of the particulardoor. The rod 56 has a cross head 56 working in a slot 59 formed in thebracket 51 for slidably supporting the bracket. When the lock is openedthe parts are as shown upon the drawing. However, when the bolt of anyparticular door is closed it will move the bracket 51 of the windowlocking mechanism inwards. This motion is transmitted by the spring 58which is a relatively stifi spring as compared with the spring 56. Themotion wi l therefore be transmitted to the arcuate pawl 53 which thenacts against the ratchet wheel 52. The arrangement is such that thehandle 5] may still be turned to close the window since the ratchetteeth will then slide past each other. But the window cannot be openedbecause the teeth engage each other. It is necessary that the bolt befirst moved to an unlocked position before the window may be opened. Theparticular window locking mechanism is identical for each of the fourdoors.

The operation of the device is as follows:

When the doors of the automobile body are closed they may besimultaneously locked by operating the cylinder lock 23. This look, whenmoved to the closed position, moves the bar 21 downwards. This motion istransmitted by the cable 41 to move the bar 21' upwards. The motion ofthese bars operates the toggle levers 39 and 3| and 30 and 3|,respectively, which simultaneously extend the bolts I 5, l6, l1 and I8.The four doors are now locked.

In the locked position of the doors the bolts engage the brackets 51 ofthe window locking means. These brackets are moved into positions inwhich the arcuate pawls 53 of the window looking means engage theratchet whee s 52. Then the windows may be closed but cannot be opened.

From the interior of the vehicle it is possible to open certain of thedoors. This is accomplished by pulling the head 38 and then moving thespindle 32 upwards relative to the bar 21. This retracts the bolts l5and I6. When the lock mechanism is thereafter operated to open the othertwo doors the bar 21 will move upwards and the collar 35 will snap intothe recess 34 and now the parts are again in position in which the doorsmay be locked While I have illustrated and described the preferredembodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limitmyself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right isreserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In an automobile body having a front and a rear hingedly mounted dooron each of the sides thereof, a bolt for each door for locking saiddoors; a toggle between each front and rear door for locking and openingthe bolts thereof, a movably mounted bar connected with each toggle foroperating same, a transmission means between said bars to move them inunison, and manual means operative from within said automobile body formoving one of said toggles for opening its associated bolts, comprisinga spindle supporting the arms of said toggle, said spindle beingprovided with a collar engaging a recess in one of said bars, a springurging said collar into said recess, and said spindle being movable tofree the collar from the recess and so free the toggle arms from thebar.

2. In an automobile body having a front and a rear hingedly mounted dooron each of the sides thereof, each of said doors having a windowoperating element adapted to move a window to an open or closedposition; and controlled with a turnable handle, a bolt for each doorfor locking said doors, a toggle between each front and rear door forlocking and opening the bolts thereof, a movably mounted bar connectedwith each toggle for operating same, a transmission means between saidbars to move them in unison, and key controlled means for moving one ofsaid bars, a ratchet wheel for each of said elements, a pawl for eachratchet wheel engageable therewith for locking the ratchet wheel fromturning in one direction, and means operative by said bolts for movingsaid pawls into operative or inoperative positions.

3. In an automobile body having a front and a rear hingedly mounted dooron each of the sides thereof, each of said doors having a windowoperating element adapted to move a window to an open or closedposition; and controlled with a turnable handle, a bolt for each doorfor looking said doors, a toggle between each front and rear door forlocking and opening the bolts thereof, a movably mounted bar connectedwith each toggle for operating same, a transmission means between saidbars to move them in unison,

and key controlled means for moving one of said bars, a ratchet wheelfor each of said elements, a pawl for each ratchet wheel engageabletherewith for locking the ratchet wheel from turning in one direction,and means operative by said bolts for moving said pawls into operativeor inoperative positions, comprising a bracket slidably supported, aspring interposed between said bracket and pawl, and a weak springurging the pawl into an open position.

4. In an automobile body having a front and a rear hingedly mounted dooron each of the sides thereof, each of said doors having a windowoperating element adapted to move a window to an open or closedposition; and controlled with a turnable handle, a bolt for each doorfor locking said doors, a toggle between each front and rear door forlocking and opening the bolts thereof, a movably mounted bar connectedwith each toggle for operating same, a transmission means between saidbars to move them in unison, and key controlled means for moving one ofsaid bars, a ratchet wheel for each of said elements, a pawl for eachratchet wheel engageable therewith for locking the ratchet wheel fromturning in one direction, and means operative by said bolts for movingsaid pawls into operative or inoperative positions, comprising a bracketslidably supported, a spring interposed between said bracket and pawl,and a weak spring urging the pawl into an open position, said pawl beingslidably supported, and when said bracket is moved the stiff springserving to move the pawl into operative position.

SOLOMON LESSER.

